Tēnā koutou e te whānau

We received some welcomed news on Monday with the Prime Minister's announcement that, in principle, all regions outside Auckland will be returning to Alert Level 1 at midnight on Monday 21 September. This will mean that all gates will once again be open from Tuesday morning (22 September). At Alert Level 1 schools are no longer required to keep their own contract tracing register but we do strongly encourage you to continue to use the NZ COVID-19 Tracing App that is displayed at the entrances around the school to help keep track of your movements.

Please note that all visitors, including parents, who come onto the school grounds between 8.55am-3pm will still be required to sign in using the Vistab at the Office. This is not related to alert levels but is a standard health and safety requirement for all schools.  

As we transition back to Alert Level 1, I would encourage all parents to continue to embrace the increased level of independence many of our children have gained by being dropped-off and picked-up at one of the gates. Developing independence is a big part of the growing up process and encouraging children to walk in and out of the school grounds on their own is a great way to help this develop. 

Parents are of course always welcome on the school grounds if you are required to visit your child's learning centre or meet their T group teacher for any reason. 

Provided we do move to Alert Level 1 as planned, I would like to thank our students, staff and parent community for your ongoing patience and support during the last few weeks. I know that the additional requirements at Alert Level 2 have been trying at times but I am grateful for the positivity that has been shown throughout this time.  As this well-known whakatauki states - Ki te kotahi te kakaho ka whati, Ki te kapuia e kore e whati — (Alone we can be broken. Standing together, we are invincible).

Finally, as this is the last newsletter for this term, I would like to wish you and your whanau a safe and relaxing holiday. We look forward to seeing you when school returns on Monday 12 October. 

Ngā mihi nui

Stuart Cameron

Principal